The Mirror's Edge
by CaptainCrimson
Summary: Captain Jack Sparrow fears death . In his pursuit of immortality he draws toward him the mystic and strange . When in his wanderings he crosses the path of the woman who could hold the key to eternal life he begins to question his sanity, what little he has left .
1. Prologue

The Mirrors Edge

Prologue  
London, 1701

Kora Dillon sat dutifully in her seat in the darkened pub. Her shoulders were weighed down as her husband's arm was slung across them. The smell of the dirty Thames was made stronger by the unusually warm London evening. It was much too hot for April.

She was the only female at the table, in fact, other than the bar maids she was the only female in the pub. Her husband didn't pay her any mind save to keep a tight hold on her and scowl at anyone else who dared even look at her sideways.

The men around the table with them were all strangers to both her husband and herself. They were all drunk, or nearly drunk, and her husband kept the ale flowing for them.

He wanted them to talk.

And talk they were.

Kora did her best to keep her expression as blank and smooth as a doll's. She would not give her husband any clue as to which words out of these mouths were true, and which were false.

"Rumor's say thar be a city full o' em," the small man with the mousy nose and fat lips said. Kora didn't like the way he snarled when he spoke. It got worse the more he drank.

"Aye," another said, red faced and fat, rolling in his seat. He laughed with every word out of his mouth. "A whole city o'lady folk who'd eat'cheh afore yeh could find yer way to the treasure!"

"You're sure," her husband spoke in his smooth rolling Irish brogue, "that this treasure is real?"

"Heh, no!" the fat man laughed. "Mermaid's ain't real. Why'd there be mermaid treasure if there ain't mermaids?!"

"Mermaid's is real!" This voice came not from any man at the table. Kora turned her head, as did every other man, to see a boy, no more than twelve, only a few years younger than her, standing a few feet inside the door of the pub. He was filthy, from head to toes. His feet were bare, and all he wore were a pair of baggy trousers. His curls were so dirty she couldn't figure their color. But his eyes, staring at them, were bright gold, and they were certain as he spoke. He was clearly trying to appear stern, with his thick brows pushed together tight, but his curving soft lips, made him look as if he were smiling.

Kora hoped he'd turn around and run. She hoped he'd run as far and fast as he could, away from this place, away from her husband.

Her husband laughed, and dragged her closer to his side. "Is that so, boy? An' what makes yeh so sure?"

"I seen one," he straightened his shoulders and nodded once firmly.

"Didja now? Where at?"

"In the Thames," he answered again. He backed up a step though. "Only caught a glimpse ah did. Bu' she was real she was."

Her husband chuckled again. "Ah believe yeh boy. Kin yeh tell me anythin' about 'em?"

The boy scowled. "Got any bread?" he asked.

Her husband's brows rose. "Oh, a bargain eh?" He picked up a crust of bread off of his plate and handed it to the boy.

He snatched it and stepped back. "Ain't just ladies," he glanced at the fat man as he said that. "There are mer-men too. I saw two o' them. They wen't the the edge of the Thames and they took of their clothes and they both jumped in. I saw their tales . . . they nevah came back. They jus' left their clothes there and they swam away, t'ward th' ocean."

Her husband stared at the boy, and he stared right back.

"That it, boy?"

He nodded hesitantly.

"Did yeh know boy, that the mer people have treasure? Magic treasure, vast, vast enough to make a thousand men richer than kings, with properties fer th'stories. There's things in their caves as can make a man live forever, turn plain metal to gold, and make any dream or desire reality. Did you know that boy?"  
The boy's bright gold eyes had not widened in wonder at the illustrious picture painted for him. In fact he'd inched back a little further, clutched his bread a little tighter and pursed his smiling lips. "Nah sir. Ah didn't know . . ."

"You mus' hear many tales though, around here in these streets?"

The boy nodded very slowly.

"I'll make you a deal, child," her husband said with a grin that turned Kora's stomach. "If you find out anything you can about that treasure, and you come and tell me, I'll give you a meal every night."

Without hesitating, the boy nodded. "Deal, sir!" He actually grinned then, but his brows were still drawn down.

"Excellent," her husband said.

The boy turned then, and scampered out of the pub.

Her husband turned to the man at his right. "Clay, that boy was lyin' teh me. Find him. And then kill him."

Clay stood up, nodding. "Aye, Cap'n," he said in his deep, soft voice. Out the door he went, his dirk drawn into one hand.

Neither Clay or her husband had noticed the dark haired man with the tri-corn hat and the kohl around his eyes slip out of the pub first, heading after the golden eyed boy.


	2. Get Out of the Kitchen!

_A/N: Yay! The first chapter! I wanted to write sooner, alas life has been super crazy as usual and frankly I didn't actually know if I was certain where I wanted to start. I finally decided! Enjoy! _

Chapter One

Get Out of the Kitchen!

Tortuga, 1705

The strong smell of cooking meat marinaded in sauce and herbs filled the kitchen. It was warm to the point of smothering, but she was used to it. Her sleeves were rolled up and her bodice unlaced just a little so she could feel some air on her hot skin. It was rare she left the kitchen so the exposure didn't worry her at all.  
"More potatoes," Jade said, backing into the room with an empty tray on her arm. She filled four mugs with ale and grabbed the full plates Melody had set out, ready to serve those who'd ordered them.

"Very good," Melody said, so Jade would know she'd heard her.  
She turned to where Carlos was peeling potatoes and Becca was cutting them. The younger girl, Becca was nearing fourteen now, pushed all the pieces into the huge pot Melody carried over. She hefted the thing back up onto the stove and poured a couple pan-fulls of water into it to get it boiling.  
Melody double checked everything and then she grabbed a mug and took a long swallow of water.  
The evening was busy, but she was used to that. As always, the thought that her food always brought in the crowds, made her smile a little.  
She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms, relaxing for her short free moment.  
Carlos, an older man who'd needed any work and a bed, looked up at her. Melody had given him a cot in the cellar and he quite liked it there, so he claimed. He had to be nearing seventy.  
"Gettin' worn out'chyet?" he asked her.  
"Not quite," she smiled. "I'm having a good day really."  
"Oh good," he smiled toothlessly and turned his attention back to the potatoes.  
Melody watched him with a distant fondness. Her own father was far away and having Carlos present was comforting in an odd way.  
"Only one thing," she said, "could ruin my mood."

"Oh?" Carlos looked up.  
Becca's brows rose and her eyes widened but she looked down quickly to her knife once more.

"It's most unlikely," Melody said, waving an absent hand. "It's only been four and a half months. Five and a half months is when I start to fret."

"Ooh, yes," Carlos nodded, his blue eyes bright.  
"What's amusing?" Melody questioned him.  
He chuckled in a wheezy sort of way. "Methinks yer confusin' yer own moods over tha'one."

"I seriously doubt it," she said flatly.  
The evening wore on long. But only nearing eleven, after the sun was long set, did she start to feel tired. Her back and arms were used to the work, but still, they ached a little after so many hours stirring and lifting and cutting.  
"It's calming down a little bit," Jade said as she huffed into the room and blew hair out of her face. "God be good they'll actually be out of here on time for once."  
"Two more hours," Melody said, attempting to keep a cheerful tone for her employees.  
Jade, who was seventeen, groaned and grabbed more drinks, heading out of the kitchen again to serve them.  
A moment later a voice outside the kitchen door rose above the voice of the crowd, a voice coming toward the kitchen.  
"Aahm back!" it called, in a deep, honey smothered gravel-like drawl.  
"Oh no," Melody straightened so fast she heard her spine pop.  
The wheezing sound of Carlos chuckling was so soft she almost didn't hear it. But hear it she did, and she turned on him with her lips pressed together and her eyes narrowed. She pointed her the frying pan she had in her hand at him and opened her mouth to talk. The kitchen door flew open and Jade appeared in a frenzy, her face almost as red as her hair. "He's baaack," she hissed.  
"I noticed," Melody said before the kitchen door came open again.  
Jade jumped out of the way and squeaked, scampering around to stand behind Carlos. The old man barely moved or looked up from his work.  
Captain Jack Sparrow sauntered into the room, his tri-corn perched atop his head, and a grin plastered on his tanned face. Melody fumed silently as she turned on him.  
"How many bloody times do I have to tell you to stay out of here?!" she demanded.  
Jack stopped, his arms tucking up as he swayed back a little, his lips forming an almost pout. "That's not a proper way to say hello," he told her.  
"It's not proper to disobey a ladies orders, captain or not."  
"I thought we were friends," he leaned toward her, bending from the waist, his fingers twitching weirdly as they usually did.  
"I have no idea what we are," she said, shooing him with one hand, holding up the frying pan with the other. "Now get out of here or I swear on your grave that I will not feed you."

He scowled. "I'm not dead, you can't swear on my grave."

"I can to. Because you might be shortly if you don't scoot."  
"Well then," he actually chuckled. He didn't say any more though before he turned on his heel and strode out of the kitchen.

Melody took in a sharp breath through her nose and let it out slowly. "I'm fine," she said quickly before she turned back to her cooking. "Jade go . . . take his order, or something."  
"Um, right," Jade scurried out again.  
When she came back she said, "Calvin's with him. Again. And some bloke out there keeps asking to see you. David keeps telling him you're busy."  
"What does he want?" Melody asked, loading up the plates for Jack and Calvin.  
"He says he wants to compliment you on the cooking, I believe. He's a ginger like myself, only lighter colored. Irish I think, unlike myself."  
Melody smirked at her and shook her head. "Alright. I might go out. I'm not generally opposed to compliments," she laughed.  
Jade nodded and with a smile took out the meals for the captain and his young friend.  
Melody removed her apron and straightened her hair a little before stepping out of the kitchen. Jack and Calvin were sitting down at the other end of the bar, chatting with David, the bartender. When David saw her he smiled broadly and nodded. Melody smiled back very fast and looked away from him and his dark blonde waves of hair and his broad shoulders.  
"He's there," Jade said, walking past her, pointing to a table where a red-headed man and a few fellows sat. Melody nodded and moved around tables toward him. He was facing away from her, laughing very boisterously about something his friend had told him.  
"Excuse me," she said, stepping up to the table.  
The red headed man turned to face her, grinning wide. His eyes took her in in a way that made her want to squirm a bit, but she held fast. Unfortunately, in a town like Tortuga, lewd looks were a common occurrence. She was so far otherwise unscathed.  
"Ah," he said and even with that one syllable Melody caught his thick Irish accent. "An' arhr ye the ladeh as cooked this very fine meal then?"

"I am," she smiled at him. "Melody Harper," she told him, holding out a hand. He took it, his grin broadening somehow, and shook it gently.  
"Well, tis my pleasure, m'lady. Ye've got a talent, ah must say."  
"You're very kind, sir. I appreciate your compliments."  
His eyes glanced down a bit and she realized she hadn't fixed her bodice properly and it took every effort she had to not let her blush rush to her face. Her cheeks did warm a little, but at least it wasn't her whole face.  
"Tha's a beautiful necklace," he told her, looking back up into her face. She smiled and put her hand over the silver unicorn pendent on her chest. She didn't like the greedy glimmer that flashed through his eyes.  
"Thank you," she said. She smiled once more. "I'm afraid I must get back to work now, sir. It was a pleasure speaking with you. Goodnight."  
She turned around and walked away, trying not too walk to fast. She could feel his eyes on her and it made her want to run. Finding herself back behind the kitchen door was a relief. She stood there a moment, breathing to calm herself, and then she put him out of her mind and forced herself back to work.

Jack watched Melody cross the room, watched her speak to the red-head at the far table, and then turn to go back to the kitchen. The blush and wide eyes was hard to miss, at least for him. She disappeared as quickly as she'd appeared and he turned his head back to look at the man she'd been speaking to once more.

"You know, Jack," David said flatly. Jack turned to look up at the bartender again. David Grissham was tall, and handsome, and refined for the sort of man that tended a bar in Tortuga.  
"What?" Jack asked him, attempting to sound genial.  
"You come off terribly creepy like, the way your mouth turns down every time she talks to any other man than you."  
Jack's lids half closed, unimpressed. "I'm frankly surprised you don't get your pants in a twist when she speaks to other men," he said.  
"I'm not worried," David said with a half shrug. Jack wanted to go find Melody's frying pan and smack the bloke over the head with the thing.  
"You're an arrogant cockroach," Jack told him with his own half shrug.  
David laughed.  
"Joo're bof idjots," Calvin piped in. They both looked at him. His mouth was full of potatoes, his golden eyes bright with amusement. He swallowed.  
"What makes you think so?" Jack questioned.

"Fer diff'rent reasons," Calvin said, taking a bite of his chicken.  
Jack was about to ask but was interrupted by loud laughter from behind them. Calvin turned around, as Jack did too, and David looked up from where he was refilling Jack's mug with rum.  
The red-head Melody had been speaking to was on his feet, as were his friends.  
"Hey," Calvin said slowly, swallowing again. He put his fork down carefully.  
"What?" Jack asked.  
"Ah think . . . ah think ah know 'im," Calvin answered.  
"Really?"  
"Yeah . . ." the boy was thoughtful.

Jack shrugged and turned back to his own meal. He took a swig of rum and glanced toward Calvin again, seeing nothing back the back of his blonde curly head and his bare shoulders. David had turned around to get more glasses.  
"Um. . ." Calvin's voice had risen a pitch.  
"What?" Jack asked around a mouthful of asparagus.

"Jack . . . Jack . . . remember th' day joo foun' me? In London?"  
"Yes," Jack said, nodding.  
"Remember the man in that pub, th' one that asked me abou' mermaids an—"  
"The one that sent a bloke out after you to kill you?"

"Yeh, tha' one. Ah think tha's 'im."  
Jack dropped his fork and turned again, leaning back a bit on his stool to look around Calvin.  
The man was walking closer, and Jack got a clearer look at him. "Oh my God," he muttered. "It is."

"Um, I think . . ." Calvin started to say but Jack cut him off.  
"Got it," he was on his feet in a moment, walking toward the kitchen door again, in attempt to cut off the red-headed Irish man. He got there first.  
Jack pulled his pistol out of his belt and shoved past a few people. Calvin was right behind him, David alongside them on the other side of the bar.

Melody heard the kitchen door open and since both of her serving girls, Jade and Carol, were in the room, and Becca and Carlos were still at the table, she could only assume one thing.  
"Jack Sparrow," she said, not trying at all to hide her irritation, "If I have to tell you one more time to get out—"  
Becca shrieked and Carlos was on his feet.  
Melody turned around in time to see Carol get knocked out of the way and fall to the floor, pulling Jade down in a tumble along with her. The Irishman was towering over her. He grabbed her and pulled her up against him, turning her around so her back was flat against his hard chest.  
"I've been looking fer you, Miss Harper," he chuckled dryly. His friends were in the room too, one of them going for Jade and Carol, the other going for Becca.  
Carlos reached across the table to snatch up Becca's cutting knife and he lunged for the man after the young girl. "No!" Melody called out.  
The big man knocked the frail Carlos to the floor like he'd swatted a fly. Melody thought she saw blood, but the Irishman turned he around before she could be sure. They were facing the door now.

Jack and David and Calvin tumbled through it. Jack with his pistol raised, Calvin holding the steak knife he'd had with his dinner, and David empty handed.  
The man holding her captive laughed. "One shot, sir. Then what?"

Jack's voice was so calm and collected that it sounded out of place in the room. "Mate, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."  
Melody wanted to kiss him, and slap him all at once. Valiance was one thing, but arrogance along with it was entirely another.  
The Irishman laughed.

_Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter will arrive sooner rather than later. Please Review! _

_~Captain Crimson_


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